Median income
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The median income is the income amount that divides a population into two equal groups, half having an income above that amount, and half having an income below that amount. It may differ from the mean (or average) income. The income that occurs most frequently is the income mode. Each of these is a way of understanding income distribution.
Median income can be calculated by household income, by personal income, or for specific demographic groups.
Gross median household income by country
- See also the country lists in the household income article.
In 2013, Gallup published a list of countries with median annual household income, based on a self-reported survey of approximately 2000 adults from each country.[1] Using median, rather than mean income, results in a much more accurate picture of the typical income of the middle class since the data will not be skewed by gains and abnormalities in the extreme ends. The figures are in international dollars using purchasing power parity and are based on responses from 2006 to 2012 inflation adjusted to 2010 levels. Below is a list of the top 30 countries. The figures do not take taxes and social contributions into account.[1][2]
The list below does not correspond to citizens of each country, but to all its residents. States rich in fossil fuels such as Qatar and Kuwait have a very large gap in terms of median annual earnings of citizens and non-citizens (reaching more than tenfold).
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Median equivalent adult income
The annual median equivalence disposable household income for selected OECD countries is shown in the table below. This is the disposable income of an equivalent adult in a household in the middle of the income distribution in a year.
Data are in United States dollars at current prices and current purchasing power parity for private consumption for the reference year.
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- An academic study on the Census income data claims that when correcting for underreporting, U.S. gross median household income was 15% higher in 2010 (table 3).[4]
See also
- Disposable household and per capita income
- List of countries by average wage
- List of U.S. states by income
- Income distribution
- Household income in the United States
- Median household income in Australia and New Zealand
- Median income per household member
- Places in the United States with notable demographic characteristics
- Poverty in the United States
References
- ^ a b c d "Worldwide, Median Household Income About $10,000". Gallup.
- ^ "New Measures of Global Income From the Gallup World Poll". Gallup. Gallup. December 13, 2013. Retrieved August 5, 2017.
- ^ http://stats.oecd.org/Index.aspx?DataSetCode=IDD
- ^ https://bea.gov/about/pdf/Fixler_Johnson.pdf